The invention relates to a clamping circuit for a television transmission system, including an input amplifier whose non-inverting input is connected to the input of the clamping circuit and whose output is connected to the output of the clamping circuit, a negative feedback loop being arranged between the output of the clamping circuit and the inverting input of the input amplifier, the negative feedback loop comprising at least the series arrangement of a sample and hold circuit and a first amplifier functioning as an integrator.
In principle, the frequency band of a video signal starts at 0 Hz. The low-frequency content of the video signal is lost by filter action in the transmission system. To remedy this, clamping circuits are used in video transmission systems, which provide that the low-frequency content of the video signal is restored. More specifically, in digital television systems, an appropriate clamping circuit providing a high degree of hum reduction is required to enable utilization of the whole overall range of an analog-to-digital converter arranged subsequent to the clamping circuit.
If the video signal is beset with noise, the clamping level of the clamping circuit is influenced, because the hold capacitor in the sample and hold circuit is not always charged to the same level. The average value per picture remains indeed the same, but the level of each line changes continuously because the hold capacitor is always given a different final value. The feedback tries to correct this, which has for its result that the output signal varies step-wise. This becomes evident in the picture by brightness differences of identical lines, which produces a streaky picture.